Amazon, Warner Home Video Near Settlement of DVD Dispute

June 23, 2014|Andrew Wallenstein | Variety

Amazon and Warner Home Video are close to a deal that would end a standoff that resulted in the Internet retailer preventing consumers from making pre-orders on DVDs of hit films including "The Lego Movie," according to sources.

While terms of their new deal were not available, the companies have reached an accord that will allow Amazon to restore "Lego," which was just made available on DVD earlier this week, as well as other titles from the studio including "Transcendence" and "300: Rise of an Empire," which already saw its pre-order option restored on the website Monday.

Reps for WB and Amazon declined comment.

Amazon has not been shy about applying pressure on partners with which it is negotiating in order to maximize its cut of DVD sales on its massively popular site. But sellers like WB that come with their own clout to the negotiation table with hit titles like "Lego" aren't backing down so easily, either.

Amazon is also engaged in a similar standoff with bookseller Hachette, which counts J.K. Rowling and Stephen Colbert among its famous authors. In that instance, Amazon has gone so far as to delay shipments of ordered titles, a tactic not used in its standoff with WB. The dispute also didn't affect digital sales of WB movies.

The monthlong pre-order blockade also affected HBO content, which is also controlled by Warner Home Video.